When to prostate ncer, 'gay men are erased,' patients say

Contents:

• IN CHIGO, A NEW APPROACH TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WH PROSTATE CANCER
• WHEN GAY MEN GET PROSTATE CANCER
• WHEN TO PROSTATE NCER, 'GAY MEN ARE ERASED,' PATIENTS SAY
• PROSTATE CANCER GAY, BISEXUAL, AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN: A REVIEW

IN CHIGO, A NEW APPROACH TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WH PROSTATE CANCER

Curt, 66, diagnosis and surgery were only the begng of a “clil and psychologil and emotnal adventure” — one he felt that many urologists were not equipped to handle, bee he was gay and the majory of doctors and their patients were symptoms are siar for all prostate ncer patients, cludg urary ntence, erectile dysfunctn, dimished libido and loss of ejaculate.

But rearchers are fdg that those chang may echo through the liv of gay and bisexual men unexpected, and sometim more difficult, obstacl n be physil and emotnal, and may be reflected patients’ relatnships wh their partners. Amarasekera, who has foced his reer on urologic re for gay and bisexual men and other sexual mori, is the program’s first is an emergg field of study driven part by the creasg number of prostate ncer patients who intify as gay or bisexual.

”The gay and bisexual men their 50s and 60s who are now enterg the prime mographic for prostate ncer also lived through the worst of the AIDS epimic. Amarasekera problem, experts the field say, is that the rearch about gay and bisexual men and prostate ncer is still woefully aquate. V., and young gay men, bee that was the biggt killer, ” said Simon Rosser, a profsor of epimlogy and muny health at the Universy of Mnota, who led a study 2017 of gay and bisexual men wh prostate ncer.

WHEN GAY MEN GET PROSTATE CANCER

“It’s only now that as the AIDS generatn grew olr, and aged to health problems like prostate ncer, that specialists are startg to see gay patients. Amarasekera studied urologists’ trag and found that many reported receivg ls than five hours of stctn on the treatment of gay and bisexual patients. He also surveyed gay patients, who overall said their sexual satisfactn was not aquately taken unr nsiratn durg treatment for prostate ncer.

WHEN TO PROSTATE NCER, 'GAY MEN ARE ERASED,' PATIENTS SAY

“It’s important to llect data on how treatment affects sexual functn differently for gay and bisexual men, who have different sexual repertoir than straight men, ” he said.

PROSTATE CANCER GAY, BISEXUAL, AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN: A REVIEW

“If you lack the tools to measure aspects of sexual functn that are specific to gay and bisexual men, you lose an opportuny to track their progrs. Amarasekera se at the program’s two clics — one downtown Chigo and the other the historilly gay Northalsted neighborhood — are unprepared to face yet another health crisis. ”The health re system, he said, “margaliz gay men, particularly when to sexual health, and the prostate is so lked to sexual health gay men.

It’s jt that many urologists don’t realize that the prostate is “kd of a male ‘G spot, ’” and gay men more often are aware of . ”Jane Ussher, a profsor at the Wtern Sydney Universy School of Medice Atralia, has been studyg the effects of ncer gay men for 20 years. “Partial erectile dysfunctn has a particular impact” on gay patients, she said, and they “report signifintly greater ncern about loss of ejaculate than heterosexual men.

Schaeffer said he hoped the program’s approach to gay men’s urologic health would “take off big ci and then spread. Amarasekera “nsired my whole person, and my whole personhood enpassed my beg gay, ” he ia also spired Perry McKay, a Chigo philanthropist whose donatn helped get the Northwtern program off the ground. “This is an opportuny to munite, tra and te urologists on how to provi better re tailored to the specific needs of gay and bisexual men, ” he Rosser agreed.